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It’s Been Two Days and Still Doesn’t Seem Real

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5 years ago

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Kobe Bryant’s death was the first big celebrity death in my lifetime that really impacted me. Michael Jackson died in 2009, but I was only eight years old and had no idea who he was. I was then introduced to his music and am a huge fan of the former pop star.

But, Kobe hits different with me for some reason.

I spent a lot of my life disliking him. I am a huge MJ fan and I always thought that he was a guy that stole Jordan’s moves and made a living off of him. I always thought that if Jordan hadn’t been as good or never happened, Kobe wouldn’t have happened.

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I never liked Kobe because I always thought he was a ball hog. I really don’t care for people that are selfish and ball hogs are selfish.

But, looking at what people said that really knew him, I believe I was wrong

On April 13, 2016 the Golden State Warriors were playing the Memphis Grizzlies in an attempt to set the NBA regular season win record of 73, one more game than the 1996 Chicago Bulls. That night, you had the Warriors trying to break the win record and Kobe Bryant’s last game. Pretty damn good night if you’re a sports fan.

I am a Warriors fan and have received plenty of crap from friends for it. I knew the Warriors were going to crush the Grizzlies and the game was kind of over before it started, so it wasn’t that fun to watch. But, I tuned in for the last four minutes of Kobe’s final game.

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Well, he did something only the greats do. He put the Lakers on his back and won the game against the Utah Jazz. The man dropped 60 points. That and Hubie Brown going “oh, oh, oh, oh my!” when he hit the three-pointer will be something I always remember. If you’re an immature teenager you get why that’s funny. If not, good for you.

But, Kobe walked off the floor of Staples Center with people standing and applauding, hugging his teammates, coaches, etc.

Since then, I honestly forgot about Kobe. Until this past Sunday.

I hopped on Twitter to see what was happening and kept seeing people tweeting “please tell me this is fake” and I had no idea what was going on. Then I saw TMZ’s report that Kobe had been killed in a plain crash. The first thing I did was call my dad and told him. We talked for about five minutes and then hung up the phone. I sat there for the next two hours stunned, emotional, and shaken. Nothing had really hit me like this before.

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I’ve been lucky to not have any close family members die and not a lot of tragic things happen in my life. I never met Kobe, never really cared for him, he lived on the other side of the country, and yet I was crushed when I saw the news.

A legend in the game of basketball, one of the best to ever do it. A guy that worked so hard on his craft, cared so much about basketball, wanted to win so bad. A guy that cared for his family so much. We had just lost of that.

I got locked out of Twitter for some reason that night, so I didn’t have to see anything about it until the afternoon of Monday. Probably was best but I still have no idea why Twitter locked me out.

Kobe was a legend. He touched so many people. The influx of tributes on social media is something that I have never really seen. That’s how you know that someone had a major impact on not only the sports world, but the world itself.

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When I get on social media I am quickly reminded of his passing. I get this knot in my stomach and get depressed. I’ve watched his final game and 81 point game probably 15 times each and every time I cannot watch with happiness.

The thing that’s even harder is the fact that his 13 year old daughter, Gianna, perished in the accident too, along with seven others. So many people lost loved ones. I cannot even imagine how hard that is and really don’t even want to think about it.

Kobe Bryant was a legend. His daughter was a rising superstar who had pretty much nailed all of her dads moves at 13 years old. She was a stud, her dad was a stud, and they along with the others killed, will be missed forever.

With all this, we are reminded how short and valuable life is. It can be taken away from us in an instant with no reason and the people we leave behind grieve and are forced to move on.

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If nothing else, this tragic event should remind us all to tell our loved ones that we love them every night. I definitely do not do it enough. Hug them, kiss them, and cherish every moment you have with them. Because in an instant, it can be taken away.

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Mark Pope Updated Lamont Butler’s Status Going Forward, “It’s An Interesting Thing”

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2 days ago

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December 20, 2024

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Kentucky Wildcats guard Lamont Butler (1) is helped to his feet by his teammates.
IMAGN

On Wednesday during his pre-Ohio State press conference, Coach Pope provided a brief update on the injury status of Lamont Butler who suffered an ankle injury against Clemson.

Even though Butler was able to play against Louisville, playing 32 minutes on a recently injured ankle could possibly lead to a setback. When discussing Butler’s injury on Wednesday, Coach Pope jokingly said: “Lamont’s ankle is an interesting thing because there’s part of me that wants to get it 100% healthy, and then there’s a part of me that, I don’t know if I want to get it 100% healthy. He was pretty good in that Louisville game.” Pope was smiling as he said that, referring to Butler scoring 33 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, and shooting perfectly from the field. 

Pope went on to explain that the UK coaching staff is being careful with Butler and currently holding him “out of contact” in practice. This means he’s doing the individual drills, offensive breakdown concepts, but when it comes to live action, Butler is not participating. 

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The good news for BBN, Pope ended his update on Butler by saying, “I think he’s over it, I think we’ve moved on, hopefully”. This is a good update on Butler and certainly infers that he should have no limitations for Saturday’s game against Ohio State.

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Acaden Lewis Nearly Axed Kentucky, but Mark Pope Won Him Over On and off the Court

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1 month ago

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November 22, 2024

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Kentucky basketball commit Acaden Lewis with coach Mark Pope on an official visit.
Chet White | UK Athletics

No one knew how close Kentucky was to missing its prized point guard in the 2025 class. According to a recent interview with Larry Vaught, he was ready to commit to Dan Hurley and the Connecticut Huskies. Yet, Mark Pope was still able to get his prized recruit.

Lewis is a top 40 recruit from the D.C. area who was a late riser in the recruiting rankings. The six-foot-two-inch guard had a tremendous junior campaign for Sidwell and Friends School. Lewis went from a fringe top 80 prospect to a consensus top 35 prospect wanted by every blueblood program.

“In the spring he was in a space where he was trying to shop himself,” Pope said. “Then by midsummer, he was trying to tell people to stop bothering me, ‘I can’t talk to every single school in the country.’”

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So how did the self-made top 35 prospect, near UConn commit end up at Kentucky?

In the summer, Mark Pope was on the verge of losing his featured point guard to Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies.

“He was on the verge of cutting Kentucky,” Acaden’s father Jarett Lewis said. “His choice was going to be UConn.”

When Pope received this information, he immediately made the trip to D.C. with his full staff, determined to change the momentum. That trip was essentially to “hangout” with and understand Acaden, as the staff immersed themselves in the point guard’s daily life, which ultimately resonated with those closest to the recruitment process. They watched Lewis work out in his neighborhood of Trinidad, then spent time with him at his local barbershop and home.

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“We live in the hood but they (Pope and Acaden) come down and hang out in the barbershop. There is no gimmick with Pope. He cares about where you are from, who you spend time with. If he likes you and wants you, he wants to understand you.”

That visit left a lasting impression, but Pope then continued traveling to D.C. weekly for a month to see Acaden, all kept under wraps. Jarett Lewis felt like his son was being recruited by Mark Pope as if he was another DC legend, Allen Iverson.

“I am floored because Mark and Jason had recruited him the hardest of any blue blood. Regardless of his ranking, Pope recruited him like he was Allen Iverson in his prime.”

The effort did not go unnoticed as Jarett wanted his son to take an official visit to Kentucky, and give them a chance.

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“I don’t care if you cut Kentucky but the thing we won’t do is not give Mark Pope a chance to address any concerns you have. The thing you do better than anybody in the country is communicate and whatever fears and concerns you have, now is the time for you to hold Pope accountable,” Jarett Lewis told his son.

From the edge of being cut, Acaden had a “home-run” official visit in Lexington for Big Blue Madness.

“He didn’t care about seeing campus. He wanted this visit to be about basketball. It was the most basketball-oriented visit we had and what we wanted. He loved it all and decided Kentucky was for him.”

“If I had not stepped in and said to let Pope visit, I guarantee you now he would be going to UConn. I basically forced him to take that visit but now he’s glad I did.”

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Next season, Lewis is set to pair in a Kentucky backcourt with Jasper Johnson, also joining five-star big Malachi Moreno. A great start to Mark Pope’s first recruiting class.

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Where Kentucky Basketball Stands in the Preseason Analytics

Published

2 months ago

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November 1, 2024

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The Kentucky Wildcats are set to tip off the season and the analytics belief they are in for a good first season under Mark Pope.
Jordan Prather | Imagn Images

With exhibition games now passed us, it’s a reminder that the season is just days away. With Kentucky winning both exhibitions by 71 points and 31 points, respectively, excitement is really starting to build in the Bluegrass.

The Wildcats were ranked 23rd in the preseason AP and Coaching polls. With an experienced team, the analytics have a lot of data to pull from and some believe that Kentucky is better than that ranking, while others believe they are worse.

H.U.M.A.N Poll (KenPom subscribers): 16th
Haslametrics: 17th
EvanMiya: 22nd
Bart Torvik: 23rd
KenPom: 43rd

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Among doing this for teams, they have data on each team’s players as well.
Kenpom projected Kentucky’s most valuable player to be Wake Forest transfer
Andrew Carr. Andrew Carr was ranked as the #108 most valuable player in the
country. EvanMiya agrees with this, giving him a 4.54 Bayesian performance rating.

These data projections may be a bit skewed. Some of the rankings were very
interesting as seen here.

  • Andrew Carr (No. 108)
  • Brandon Garrison (No. 142)
  • Lamont Butler (No. 145)
  • Kerr Kriisa (No. 155)
  • Amari Williams (No. 158)
  • Otega Oweh (No. 167)
  • Koby Brea (No. 174)
  • Jaxson Robinson (No. 240)
  • Travis Perry (No. 1,041)
  • Trent Noah (No. 1,281)
  • Collin Chandler (No. 1,632)
  • Grant Darbyshire (No. 1,820)
  • Ansley Almonor (No. 1,912)
  • Walker Horn (No. 4,133)

Kentucky is currently listed to have seven players in the country’s top 200
most valuable players. However, the big shocker is the
projected value of BYU Transfer Jaxson Robinson.

Again, these projections are a bit skewed, as we do see Walk-on Grant
Darbyshire as being more valuable than Fairleigh Dickenson Transfer
Ansley Almonor.

Some guys were however listed as more valuable than some may
think. Brandon Garrison Oklahoma State Transfer, and former
McDonald’s All-American comes in at #142.

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Garrison showed out during Kentucky’s Pro Day displaying
a great ability to defend and protect the rim. Garrison also showed a
fantastic motor and incredible athleticism. He is someone who I
foresee playing a huge role in the Cats Frontcourt this season.

Another surprise was Colin Chandler coming in at #1,632. Chandler
was a 4 Star prospect coming in at #33 in the 2022 Class. Chandler
took some time away from the sport to embark on a mission trip
overseas. He is starting to get back into the swing of basketball and is
someone who I think could surprise a lot of folks this season.
Overall, the National Media views Kentucky as a middle-of-the-pack
Top 25 team. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the
course of the season.

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